PROJECT DESIGN 3 – FORMULATION OF THE LOGICAL FRAMEWORK
STEP 2- Project formulation
The formulation step is based on the understanding gained during the situation analysis, which both justifies and drives the project identification. At the same time, it sets out the benefits the intended action will bring to the target group. This step is done through the use of the Logical Framework Matrix Recalling the example presented previously (i.e. My tooth hurts / I cannot sleep / I am exhausted), the logical framework matrix will organise a step-by-step solution to the main problem, by answering a series of operational questions that target its root causes. If the solution to the fact that my tooth hurts (main problem) is that I go to the dentist, in order to make things happen as I wish, I will have to find a practical response to the following questions: who is the nearest and best affordable dentist? When can I have an appointment? How much does the treatment cost? Do I have the money for it and, if not, how do I get it? Etc. This series of operations, if successfully carried out, will bring me to the desired situation (my tooth will not hurt, therefore I will be able to sleep and I will not be exhausted). Applied to more complex scenarios, the purpose of a project formulation is to come up with the best possible operational way to deal with the core problem affecting the target group. Like in the identification step, the key stakeholders and target groups usually take a leading role in formulating the project. This ensures that the project deals with the real context and promotes ownership and commitment. Again, make sure that all stakeholder groups have the opportunity to voice their views, especially those who are often less vocal, such as women, young people and people living with a disability. The project design phase should include a clear statement of which gender issues will be addressed. This can be done through specific targeted activities. Thiswill then be included in the project objectives, strategy and structure.
2.1 Building your logical framework The logical framework is a way of presenting the substance of the project in a comprehensive and understandable form. It is the structure of your project proposal.It is used to organize all the main elements of your objective tree, including the objectives, outputs, activities, indicators and assumptions, as illustrated in the diagram below: Diagram: From objective tree to logical framework
The logical framework matrix (also called logframe) is considered a planning tool, because:
• it shows the output chain (series of expected results) for the project, with a cause-effect relationship among the different project components• as described in the introductory chapter (Getting Started, i.i.) it describes the results-based management approach we need to follow if we are to achieve the objectives;• it shows how assumptions influence each level of the output chain;• it also contains the indicators that we will use to measure progress and the means of verifying results.
Typical structure of a logframe and definitions: The logframe usually consists of a matrix with four columns and four rows which summarise the project structure: • The first column is the project’s hierarchy of objectives. It identifies what the project wants to achieve and how, and clarifies the causal relationships. Project objectives are achieved by providing the direct recipients with certain outputs. Outputs are produced by a set of activities. In RBM project design, the outputs and activities are the means by which to obtain the objectives. Therefore they are defined after the project objectives have been set out. • The second and third column list indicators and the means of verification of impact, and the knowledge and sources required to assess the reliability of data. In other words, the indicators provide evidence of the project’s progress toward the intended objectives. Hence they are the core components of the project monitoring and evaluation system, which enables the implementing agency (e.g. a support organization) to make the necessary adjustments throughout the implementation, as well as to demonstrate the project’s progress (or lack of it) to the stakeholders, donors and other partners. Once the indicators have been decided, the means of verification provide precise reference to the sources of information to be consulted in order to verify the project’s performance and results. As we will see later on, indicators can be quantitative (number of members, percentage of women participating in board meetings, etc.) or qualitative (customer satisfaction, quality of services, etc.) but all of them have to be assessable.8 • The fourth column specifies important assumptions and uncertainties beyond the control of the project. The context in which the project operates plays an essential role in its success. Factors beyond the project’s control may affect the achievement of the outputs (e.g. a major unexpected flood or drought can provoke substantial crop failures, regardless of the successful implementation of a rural development project). Such events or conditions are identified in the assumption analysis and incorporated into the project design. If assumptions do not prove valid (the rainy season is regular, as expected), the project is unable to proceed. Sometimes this column contains “risks”, namely factors that may compromise the success of the project, and therefore need to be taken into account.
Structure of the project
Indicators
Means of verification
Key assumptions
Development objective What is intended to be the longer-term impact of the project on the ultimate beneficiaries?
What are the quantitative or qualitative indicators by which the achievement of the development objective can be measured? Please note that indicators for the development objective are often beyond the control of the project.
What information sources enable the measurement of the indicators? Please note that means of verification for the development objective are not always accessible within the time-frame and range of action of the project.
What external factors are necessary to sustain the overall goals in the long run?
Immediate objective What are the intended benefits (the desired situation) and outcomes of the project for the target group?
What are the quantitative or qualitative indicators by which the achievement of the immediate objectives can be measured?
What information sources enable the measurement of the indicators? Do they exist (e.g. annual report of the registrar) or do they need to be developed (e.g. project progress report)?
What external factors are necessary if the immediate objectives are to be achieved?
Outputs What are the tangible products or services delivered by the project to achieve the immediate objectives?
What are the quantitative or qualitative indicators by which the achievement of outputs can be measured?
As above
What external factors are necessary if the outputs are to be achieved?
Activities What activities must be carried out to generate each intended output?
Inputs (raw materials, equipment, human resources, etc.)
Costs (of each input)
To facilitate the understanding of the concepts related to the logical framework, please refer to this example
The vertical logic: This matrix is called a “logical framework matrix” because it follows both vertical and horizontal logic. The first column represents the vertical logic of the logframe. Like the problem and objective trees presented in Chapter 1, it clarifies vertically the causal relationships between the different levels of “objectives”, as illustrated in the following diagram. Diagram: The vertical logic
The horizontal logic:
This states how the activity objectives specified in the first column of the logical framework will be measured (column 2, indicators), how the means will be verified (column 3, means of verification) and the assumptions that are beyond the control of the project manager (column 4).
Diagram: the horizontal logic
2.2 Setting the objectives, outputs and activities: first column
The first column of your logical framework describes the vertical cause and effect logic. It sets out the basic strategy of the project and reflects the objective tree. As we showed in Chapter 1, your objective tree can be divided into four levels of “objectives”:
• The activities• By carrying out these activities, the outputs are achieved• By achieving the outputs collectively, the immediate objective is achieved• The immediate objective contributes to the development objective. The development objective This explains what the project does for the final beneficiaries in the longer term (see the difference between direct recipients and final beneficiaries in Chapter 1). Depending on the action domain of the target group (from a ministry to a local self-help group), it also shows how the project contributes to international development priorities, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and national development policies (PRSPs, national gender equality plans, DWCPs, etc.). The development objective can also describe how the project contributes to local development strategies or to the strategic plan or business plan of an organisation. The development objective will not be achieved by your project alone. The project is just one piece in a complex puzzle. The development objective corresponds to the overall picture, to which various development projects, strategic plans and business plans all contribute.
In short, a development objective has to: • be consistent with the strategic development policy (at the level of the business plan or other overarching development strategies)• avoid being a restatement with other words of the immediate objectives;• be expressed as a desired end and not as a means;• be a long-term objective to which the project will contribute;• be a long-term objective for the ultimate beneficiaries; • be stated clearly in verifiable terms.
The immediate objective Your project is responsible for its achievement. It should address the core problem and be set out in terms of sustainable benefits for the target group. We suggest that you only have one immediate objective per project, in order to avoid excessive complexity. Multiple immediate objectives are used by large organizations with a wide domain of action, such as a ministry or an international development agency. An immediate objective describes the desired project outcome for the target group (direct recipients). In general, these are desirable changes for the target group: • in behaviour, such as: “organisations follow good safety and health practice on HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation”; • in a system or service: “organisations make increased use of renewable energy”, “the union has set up three primary schools”; • in institutional performance: “the number of students in colleges has increased”, “the productivity in agricultural organisations has improved ”. In short, an immediate objective has to: • contribute to achieving the development objective • avoid being a restatement of the outputs with other words • be expressed as a future completed action, an end state, and not a process. • be a medium-term objective to be achieved by the end of the project for the target group • be stated clearly in verifiable terms.
The outputs These are the products of the activities, the combination of which leads to the achievement of the immediate objective. The implementing organization is accountable for delivering these services and products. Some examples of outputs are: “The policy framework for organisation development is improved” “The management capacity of young entrepreneurs in district X is reinforced” “The irrigation system is upgraded and expanded to the neighbouring district”. In short, an output has to be: • delivered by the project• necessary to achieve the immediate objective• demand-driven and not supply-led• stated clearly in verifiable terms• feasible with the available budget.
The activities These are the actions and means that will produce the outputs. In most cases, they are related to: training, equipment, institutional support, planning, studies, etc. Activities cannot always be taken directly from the objective tree. In many cases, they will have to be defined during the formulation step, as it is quite rare that a problem and objective tree exercise allows such detail of analysis. In terms of ownership of the project, it is therefore advisable to submit the logframe again to the key stakeholders and partners. This will make sure that the described activities are based on consensus. In short, an activity has to: • define the action strategy of the project;• be realistic in terms of inputs, resource needs and managerial capacity;• be stated clearly in verifiable terms.
Key actions in identifying the different objectives:
1) Identify the project immediate objective(s), which is generally the action you have to take in order to address the core problem on your problem tree, therefore the desired situation of your objective tree. 2) Identify the development objective. It is one of the objectives at the top of the objective tree which describes the long-term benefits, the long-term impact on society to which the project will contribute. 3) Identify the outputs: select from the objective tree the objectives that – by the “means to end” logic – will achieve the immediate objective. You can add other outputs that contribute to achieving the immediate objectives. 4) Identify the activities. Select from the objectives tree the objective that – by the “means to end” logic – will produce the outputs and translate them into activities. Activities are formulated with the verb in front, such as “organise training sessions”. Add other activities needed, paying attention also to the specific interests of under-represented groups.
2.3 Setting up the indicators and means of verification: second and third column
You will only know if your objectives and outputs have been achieved by setting indicators that are measurable. An indicator is an objective measure that indicates if and to what extent progress (in relation to the project’s objective and outputs) is being achieved. Indicators of achievement are usually required at output level. Indicators for activities are not developed since it is considered that it is a straightforward action that you have or have not implemented.
Targets and milestones Indicators of achievement measure change brought about by the project. They can be broken down into targets and milestones. Targets define the desired result that the project intends to reach. Milestones give information on whether the project is on track in achieving the targets. Where possible, targets and milestones should enable measuring change for women and men separately. Donor requirements determine whether and how you need to develop indicators, targets and milestones in your logframe. For instance, some donors accept that targets and milestones are defined together with the target group during the first months of the project implementation. In this manual, the distinction between indicators, targets and milestones is not used at all instances for the sake of simplicity.
Type of indicators: Indicators can be quantitative or qualitative: • Quantitative indicators use numerical data, (such as numbers of people or percentages) to indicate progress. They can be specified through a target or milestone or both, depending the donor requirements. See the example below:
• Qualitative indicators use data based on attributes or qualities, (such as perceptions) to indicate progress.
Indicators can also be classified as direct or indirect:
Direct indicators have a direct relationship to the objective or output. Direct indicators are preferred because they are very specific and relevant, and we recommend that you use them as often as possible. In some cases, they may be costly to measure (for example, data on household income require expensive statistical surveys and a good baseline9). An example of this type of (achievement) indicator is:
Indirect indicators (proxies) measure variables that are associated with a situation that fluctuates in the same direction as the objective. The stakeholders can propose proxies better because they are more familiar with the habits of the ultimate beneficiaries. But indirect indicators are less specific, because external factors other than the objective they try to measure may interfere and give an incorrect reading of the indicator.
In the above proxy example, a family may decide to put their additional income into a savings account instead of increasing their consumption of tomatoes. In this case, using consumption as an indicator of family income would lead to underestimating project success.
Quantity of indicators: The fewer the indicators per objective and output, the better. But it is often necessary to use more than one indicator for each objective statement. For example one indicator may provide good quantitative information, which needs to be complemented by another indicator that focuses on qualitative matters (such as the opinions of target groups). However, the trap of including too many indicators should be avoided.
Methodology for producing indicators: A range of methods can be used to produce indicator data. They include:• document reviews• surveys • interviews • focus groups • observations• workshops.
Indicators should be independent of each other, each one relating to only one objective in the intervention logic, i.e. to the development objective, the immediate objective or one output.
The meaning of an objectively verifiable indicator is that the information collected should be the same if collected by different people (i.e. it is not open to the subjective opinion or bias of one person). This is more easily done for quantitative measures than for qualitative ones.
The characteristics of good indicators
The most effective indicators are those which are ‘SMART’, or, in other words exhibit all of the following characteristics: S = Specific M = Measurable A = Achievable and agreed upon (by the project partners) R = Realistic T = Time-bound Note that in addition to being ‘SMART’, indicators must also enable the measurement of project progress, achievements and impact in a gender-sensitive way
Baselines: Baseline is the analysis describing the situation prior to a development intervention, against which progress can be assessed or comparisons made. OECD-DAC, 2002, Glossary
When choosing your indicator of progress, it is important to know the actual data describing the current situation. For example, if your project’s immediate objective indicator is “Tomato production of organisations is increased by 10% at the project’s end”, in order to verify that you have reached this indicator, you need to know beforehand what the current (before implementation of the project) tomato production by the same population is. The baseline should also be disaggregated by sex (e.g. % of women actively involved in the tomato production at beginning of the project; level of income earned by them before the project starts, etc.). “In the absence of such data, baseline surveys, capturing quantitative and qualitative information, may form one of the early project activities. These surveys may also be used as an opportunity to sensitise the community about the purpose and nature of the project.”10 At the output level, the project management could set up a database with the amount of unhealthy livestock, milk spoilage and income before the start of the project. This information will be used for Monitoring and Evaluation planning (Step 4).
Indicators at the level of development objective: At the development objective level, indicators should be linked to the ultimate beneficiaries as well as to higher-level national frameworks (national strategies, PRSPs, UNDAF, DWCP, etc.). Since the project only contributes to the achievement of the development objective, it is very difficult to monitor and assess indicators at that level. Furthermore, there are long-term impacts, which appear after the project. This is why, in some cases, a post-project evaluation could be required five years after completion. Indicators for development objectives are not always required. If they are, we recommend that you use indicators devised by national organizations, such as the employment rate in the region, and lobby to make sure that they are disaggregated by production type (employment in the tomato sector), sex and age. Indicators at the level of immediate objective: The immediate objective brings a change in behaviour, services or institutions for the direct recipients (target group). It is a consequence of the outputs. Therefore the immediate objective’s indicators are important and have to describe the project benefits and expected value.
Indicators at the level of outputs: At the output level, the indicators are mainly for use by the project management, because they refer to what the project delivers. For example, indicators at the level of output should not be a summary of what has been stated at the activity level, but should describe the measurable consequence of activity implementation. Output 2: Long-life milk and quality dairy products produced Indicator 1 (qualitative and indirect): Customers are satisfied with the quality of the dairy products. This qualitative indicator complements other indicators by examining the satisfaction of customers with the quality of products. . This provides a qualitative indication of the success of the project.
Means of verification: Means of verification indicate where and in what form information on the achievement of the development objective, immediate objective and results can be found. The means of verification should be considered and specified at the same time as the formulation of indicators. This will help to test whether or not the indicators can be realistically measured with a reasonable amount of time, money and effort. The means of verification should specify: • HOW the information should be collected (e.g. from administrative records, special studies, sample surveys, observation,) and/or the available documented source (e.g. progress reports, project accounts, official statistics, engineering completion certificates). • WHO should collect/provide the information (e.g. local government workers, contracted survey teams, the district agricultural office, the project management team). • WHEN/HOW information should be collected (e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually). It is important to make sure that the required information can be collected through existing systems or at least with improvements to existing systems, and with the available resources. In some cases, additional resources might be needed to develop a survey or database. This should then be added to the project budget.
2.4 Setting up the key assumptions: fourth column
While doing your objective tree, it became apparent that the project alone could not achieve all the objectives. Once you have selected a strategy, objectives not included in the intervention logic and other external factors remain. These factors can affect the project’s implementation but are outside its control (a natural catastrophe, an economic crisis, etc.). Key assumptions are conditions that have to be met if the project is to succeed. They are included in the fourth column of the logframe. In other words, they are the answer to the question “what external factors are not controlled by the project, but may affect its implementation and long-term sustainability?” It is frequent to refer also to the concept of risk, together with the key assumptions. The difference between risks and assumptions lies in their either negative or positive statements. For a project to be successful, risks should not occur, while key assumptions need to be correct. To identify assumptions, you have to assess the probability and significance of external conditions to be met in order to achieve your objectives and outputs. They are not addressed at the level of activities, since you are supposed to control their implementation totally under the project management. The fourth column in the matrix is used to highlight assumptions about the external conditions that need to be fulfilled if the vertical logic of the project structure (objectives and outputs) is to hold true. This same column highlights those risks that, although they are not likely to happen, may affect either the progress or the success of the project. The relationship between risks, assumptions and levels of objectives is illustrated in the following diagram. Diagram: Relations between risks, assumptions and levels of objectives
Only if the assumptions are met will the next level of objectives be achieved. Types of assumptions Implementation assumptions: These assumptions link the immediate objectives of the project to the outputs. Since the project’s management is not able to control what happens with projects outputs, there are necessarily important assumptions at this level. These assumptions are critical to the success of the project and form an important part of any evaluation. For instance, the local government agrees to develop and implement an infrastructure development plan that will benefit the organisation. Development assumptions: These assumptions link immediate objectives to the development goal. The question being asked is: How is the achievement of the immediate objective going to contribute to national goals, and to ILO and donor objectives? These are often stated in the form of hypotheses or theories. They are important for the appraisal and evaluation of the project, but are not usually related to implementation of activities. For instance, stable global economic trends. Sustainability assumptions: These assumptions relate to the sustainability of the development and immediate objectives For instance, the government agrees to reform the organisation law. An assessment of the importance of each assumption and the probability (risk) of its being true is required (see diagram below). The more important and more risky the assumption, the greater the need to consider: • re-designing the project to ‘internalise’ the problem and reduce the risk of the assumption not holding true. This may involve modifying or expanding project components or activities in order to influence or even control those external factors which are critical to project success; and • preparing contingency plans so as to be able to handle “worse case” outcomes.
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STEP 2- Project formulation
The formulation step is based on the understanding gained during the situation analysis, which both justifies and drives the project identification. At the same time, it sets out the benefits the intended action will bring to the target group. This step is done through the use of the Logical Framework Matrix
Recalling the example presented previously (i.e. My tooth hurts / I cannot sleep / I am exhausted), the logical framework matrix will organise a step-by-step solution to the main problem, by answering a series of operational questions that target its root causes. If the solution to the fact that my tooth hurts (main problem) is that I go to the dentist, in order to make things happen as I wish, I will have to find a practical response to the following questions: who is the nearest and best affordable dentist? When can I have an appointment? How much does the treatment cost? Do I have the money for it and, if not, how do I get it? Etc. This series of operations, if successfully carried out, will bring me to the desired situation (my tooth will not hurt, therefore I will be able to sleep and I will not be exhausted).
Applied to more complex scenarios, the purpose of a project formulation is to come up with the best possible operational way to deal with the core problem affecting the target group. Like in the identification step, the key stakeholders and target groups usually take a leading role in formulating the project. This ensures that the project deals with the real context and promotes ownership and commitment. Again, make sure that all stakeholder groups have the opportunity to voice their views, especially those who are often less vocal, such as women, young people and people living with a disability.
The project design phase should include a clear statement of which gender issues will be addressed. This can be done through specific targeted activities. Thiswill then be included in the project objectives, strategy and structure.
2.1 Building your logical framework
The logical framework is a way of presenting the substance of the project in a comprehensive and understandable form. It is the structure of your project proposal.It is used to organize all the main elements of your objective tree, including the objectives, outputs, activities, indicators and assumptions, as illustrated in the diagram below:
Diagram: From objective tree to logical framework
The logical framework matrix (also called logframe) is considered a planning tool, because:
• it shows the output chain (series of expected results) for the project, with a cause-effect relationship among the different project components• as described in the introductory chapter (Getting Started, i.i.) it describes the results-based management approach we need to follow if we are to achieve the objectives;• it shows how assumptions influence each level of the output chain;• it also contains the indicators that we will use to measure progress and the means of verifying results.
Typical structure of a logframe and definitions:
The logframe usually consists of a matrix with four columns and four rows which summarise the project structure:
• The first column is the project’s hierarchy of objectives. It identifies what the project wants to achieve and how, and clarifies the causal relationships. Project objectives are achieved by providing the direct recipients with certain outputs. Outputs are produced by a set of activities. In RBM project design, the outputs and activities are the means by which to obtain the objectives. Therefore they are defined after the project objectives have been set out.
• The second and third column list indicators and the means of verification of impact, and the knowledge and sources required to assess the reliability of data. In other words, the indicators provide evidence of the project’s progress toward the intended objectives. Hence they are the core components of the project monitoring and evaluation system, which enables the implementing agency (e.g. a support organization) to make the necessary adjustments throughout the implementation, as well as to demonstrate the project’s progress (or lack of it) to the stakeholders, donors and other partners. Once the indicators have been decided, the means of verification provide precise reference to the sources of information to be consulted in order to verify the project’s performance and results. As we will see later on, indicators can be quantitative (number of members, percentage of women participating in board meetings, etc.) or qualitative (customer satisfaction, quality of services, etc.) but all of them have to be assessable.8
• The fourth column specifies important assumptions and uncertainties beyond the control of the project. The context in which the project operates plays an essential role in its success. Factors beyond the project’s control may affect the achievement of the outputs (e.g. a major unexpected flood or drought can provoke substantial crop failures, regardless of the successful implementation of a rural development project). Such events or conditions are identified in the assumption analysis and incorporated into the project design. If assumptions do not prove valid (the rainy season is regular, as expected), the project is unable to proceed. Sometimes this column contains “risks”, namely factors that may compromise the success of the project, and therefore need to be taken into account.
What is intended to be the longer-term impact of the project on the ultimate beneficiaries?
What are the intended benefits (the desired situation) and outcomes of the project for the target group?
are necessary if the
immediate objectives are to be achieved?
What are the tangible products or services delivered by the project to achieve the immediate objectives?
are necessary if the outputs are to be achieved?
What activities must be carried out to generate each intended output?
To facilitate the understanding of the concepts related to the logical framework, please refer to this example
The vertical logic:
This matrix is called a “logical framework matrix” because it follows both vertical and horizontal logic.
The first column represents the vertical logic of the logframe. Like the problem and objective trees presented in Chapter 1, it clarifies vertically the causal relationships between the different levels of “objectives”, as illustrated in the following diagram.
Diagram: The vertical logic
The horizontal logic:
This states how the activity objectives specified in the first column of the logical framework will be measured (column 2, indicators), how the means will be verified (column 3, means of verification) and the assumptions that are beyond the control of the project manager (column 4).
Diagram: the horizontal logic
2.2 Setting the objectives, outputs and activities: first column
The first column of your logical framework describes the vertical cause and effect logic. It sets out the basic strategy of the project and reflects the objective tree. As we showed in Chapter 1, your objective tree can be divided into four levels of “objectives”:
• The activities• By carrying out these activities, the outputs are achieved• By achieving the outputs collectively, the immediate objective is achieved• The immediate objective contributes to the development objective.
The development objective
This explains what the project does for the final beneficiaries in the longer term (see the difference between direct recipients and final beneficiaries in Chapter 1). Depending on the action domain of the target group (from a ministry to a local self-help group), it also shows how the project contributes to international development priorities, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and national development policies (PRSPs, national gender equality plans, DWCPs, etc.). The development objective can also describe how the project contributes to local development strategies or to the strategic plan or business plan of an organisation. The development objective will not be achieved by your project alone. The project is just one piece in a complex puzzle. The development objective corresponds to the overall picture, to which various development projects, strategic plans and business plans all contribute.
In short, a development objective has to:
• be consistent with the strategic development policy (at the level of the business plan or other overarching development strategies)• avoid being a restatement with other words of the immediate objectives;• be expressed as a desired end and not as a means;• be a long-term objective to which the project will contribute;• be a long-term objective for the ultimate beneficiaries;
• be stated clearly in verifiable terms.
The immediate objective
Your project is responsible for its achievement. It should address the core problem and be set out in terms of sustainable benefits for the target group. We suggest that you only have one immediate objective per project, in order to avoid excessive complexity. Multiple immediate objectives are used by large organizations with a wide domain of action, such as a ministry or an international development agency.
An immediate objective describes the desired project outcome for the target group (direct recipients). In general, these are desirable changes for the target group:
• in behaviour, such as: “organisations follow good safety and health practice on HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation”;
• in a system or service: “organisations make increased use of renewable energy”, “the union has set up three primary schools”;
• in institutional performance: “the number of students in colleges has increased”, “the productivity in agricultural organisations has improved ”.
In short, an immediate objective has to:
• contribute to achieving the development objective
• avoid being a restatement of the outputs with other words
• be expressed as a future completed action, an end state, and not a process.
• be a medium-term objective to be achieved by the end of the project for the target group
• be stated clearly in verifiable terms.
The outputs
These are the products of the activities, the combination of which leads to the achievement of the immediate objective. The implementing organization is accountable for delivering these services and products. Some examples of outputs are:
“The policy framework for organisation development is improved”
“The management capacity of young entrepreneurs in district X is reinforced”
“The irrigation system is upgraded and expanded to the neighbouring district”.
In short, an output has to be:
• delivered by the project• necessary to achieve the immediate objective• demand-driven and not supply-led• stated clearly in verifiable terms• feasible with the available budget.
The activities
These are the actions and means that will produce the outputs. In most cases, they are related to: training, equipment, institutional support, planning, studies, etc.
Activities cannot always be taken directly from the objective tree. In many cases, they will have to be defined during the formulation step, as it is quite rare that a problem and objective tree exercise allows such detail of analysis. In terms of ownership of the project, it is therefore advisable to submit the logframe again to the key stakeholders and partners. This will make sure that the described activities are based on consensus.
In short, an activity has to:
• define the action strategy of the project;• be realistic in terms of inputs, resource needs and managerial capacity;• be stated clearly in verifiable terms.
Key actions in identifying the different objectives:
1) Identify the project immediate objective(s), which is generally the action you have to take in order to address the core problem on your problem tree, therefore the desired situation of your objective tree.
2) Identify the development objective. It is one of the objectives at the top of the objective tree which describes the long-term benefits, the long-term impact on society to which the project will contribute.
3) Identify the outputs: select from the objective tree the objectives that – by the “means to end” logic – will achieve the immediate objective. You can add other outputs that contribute to achieving the immediate objectives.
4) Identify the activities. Select from the objectives tree the objective that – by the “means to end” logic – will produce the outputs and translate them into activities. Activities are formulated with the verb in front, such as “organise training sessions”. Add other activities needed, paying attention also to the specific interests of under-represented groups.
2.3 Setting up the indicators and means of verification: second and third column
You will only know if your objectives and outputs have been achieved by setting indicators that are measurable. An indicator is an objective measure that indicates if and to what extent progress (in relation to the project’s objective and outputs) is being achieved. Indicators of achievement are usually required at output level. Indicators for activities are not developed since it is considered that it is a straightforward action that you have or have not implemented.
Targets and milestones
Indicators of achievement measure change brought about by the project. They can be broken down into targets and milestones. Targets define the desired result that the project intends to reach. Milestones give information on whether the project is on track in achieving the targets. Where possible, targets and milestones should enable measuring change for women and men separately.
Donor requirements determine whether and how you need to develop indicators, targets and milestones in your logframe. For instance, some donors accept that targets and milestones are defined together with the target group during the first months of the project implementation. In this manual, the distinction between indicators, targets and milestones is not used at all instances for the sake of simplicity.
Type of indicators:
Indicators can be quantitative or qualitative:
• Quantitative indicators use numerical data, (such as numbers of people or percentages) to indicate progress. They can be specified through a target or milestone or both, depending the donor requirements. See the example below:
• Qualitative indicators use data based on attributes or qualities, (such as perceptions) to indicate progress.
Indicators can also be classified as direct or indirect:
Direct indicators have a direct relationship to the objective or output. Direct indicators are preferred because they are very specific and relevant, and we recommend that you use them as often as possible. In some cases, they may be costly to measure (for example, data on household income require expensive statistical surveys and a good baseline9). An example of this type of (achievement) indicator is:
Indirect indicators (proxies) measure variables that are associated with a situation that fluctuates in the same direction as the objective. The stakeholders can propose proxies better because they are more familiar with the habits of the ultimate beneficiaries. But indirect indicators are less specific, because external factors other than the objective they try to measure may interfere and give an incorrect reading of the indicator.
In the above proxy example, a family may decide to put their additional income into a savings account instead of increasing their consumption of tomatoes. In this case, using consumption as an indicator of family income would lead to underestimating project success.
Quantity of indicators:
The fewer the indicators per objective and output, the better. But it is often necessary to use more than one indicator for each objective statement. For example one indicator may provide good quantitative information, which needs to be complemented by another indicator that focuses on qualitative matters (such as the opinions of target groups). However, the trap of including too many indicators should be avoided.
Methodology for producing indicators:
A range of methods can be used to produce indicator data. They include:• document reviews• surveys
• interviews
• focus groups
• observations• workshops.
Indicators should be independent of each other, each one relating to only one objective in the intervention logic, i.e. to the development objective, the immediate objective or one output.
The meaning of an objectively verifiable indicator is that the information collected should be the same if collected by different people (i.e. it is not open to the subjective opinion or bias of one person). This is more easily done for quantitative measures than for qualitative ones.
The characteristics of good indicators
The most effective indicators are those which are ‘SMART’, or, in other words exhibit all of the following characteristics:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Achievable and agreed upon (by the project partners)
R = Realistic
T = Time-bound
Note that in addition to being ‘SMART’, indicators must also enable the measurement of project progress, achievements and impact in a gender-sensitive way
Baselines:
Baseline is the analysis describing the situation prior to a development intervention, against which progress can be assessed or comparisons made.
OECD-DAC, 2002, Glossary
When choosing your indicator of progress, it is important to know the actual data describing the current situation. For example, if your project’s immediate objective indicator is
“Tomato production of organisations is increased by 10% at the project’s end”, in order to verify that you have reached this indicator, you need to know beforehand what the current (before implementation of the project) tomato production by the same population is. The baseline should also be disaggregated by sex (e.g. % of women actively involved in the tomato production at beginning of the project; level of income earned by them before the project starts, etc.).
“In the absence of such data, baseline surveys, capturing quantitative and qualitative information, may form one of the early project activities. These surveys may also be used as an opportunity to sensitise the community about the purpose and nature of the project.”10
At the output level, the project management could set up a database with the amount of unhealthy livestock, milk spoilage and income before the start of the project. This information will be used for Monitoring and Evaluation planning (Step 4).
Indicators at the level of development objective:
At the development objective level, indicators should be linked to the ultimate beneficiaries as well as to higher-level national frameworks (national strategies, PRSPs, UNDAF, DWCP, etc.).
Since the project only contributes to the achievement of the development objective, it is very difficult to monitor and assess indicators at that level. Furthermore, there are long-term impacts, which appear after the project. This is why, in some cases, a post-project evaluation could be required five years after completion.
Indicators for development objectives are not always required. If they are, we recommend that you use indicators devised by national organizations, such as the employment rate in the region, and lobby to make sure that they are disaggregated by production type (employment in the tomato sector), sex and age.
Indicators at the level of immediate objective:
The immediate objective brings a change in behaviour, services or institutions for the direct recipients (target group). It is a consequence of the outputs. Therefore the immediate objective’s indicators are important and have to describe the project benefits and expected value.
Indicators at the level of outputs:
At the output level, the indicators are mainly for use by the project management, because they refer to what the project delivers. For example, indicators at the level of output should not be a summary of what has been stated at the activity level, but should describe the measurable consequence of activity implementation.
Output 2: Long-life milk and quality dairy products produced
Indicator 1 (qualitative and indirect): Customers are satisfied with the quality of the dairy products.
This qualitative indicator complements other indicators by examining the satisfaction of customers with the quality of products. . This provides a qualitative indication of the success of the project.
Means of verification:
Means of verification indicate where and in what form information on the achievement of the development objective, immediate objective and results can be found.
The means of verification should be considered and specified at the same time as the formulation of indicators. This will help to test whether or not the indicators can be realistically measured with a reasonable amount of time, money and effort.
The means of verification should specify:
• HOW the information should be collected (e.g. from administrative records, special studies, sample surveys, observation,) and/or the available documented source (e.g. progress reports, project accounts, official statistics, engineering completion certificates).
• WHO should collect/provide the information (e.g. local government workers, contracted survey teams, the district agricultural office, the project management team).
• WHEN/HOW information should be collected (e.g. monthly, quarterly, annually).
It is important to make sure that the required information can be collected through existing systems or at least with improvements to existing systems, and with the available resources. In some cases, additional resources might be needed to develop a survey or database. This should then be added to the project budget.
2.4 Setting up the key assumptions: fourth column
While doing your objective tree, it became apparent that the project alone could not achieve all the objectives. Once you have selected a strategy, objectives not included in the intervention logic and other external factors remain. These factors can affect the project’s implementation but are outside its control (a natural catastrophe, an economic crisis, etc.).
Key assumptions are conditions that have to be met if the project is to succeed. They are included in the fourth column of the logframe. In other words, they are the answer to the question “what external factors are not controlled by the project, but may affect its implementation and long-term sustainability?”
It is frequent to refer also to the concept of risk, together with the key assumptions. The difference between risks and assumptions lies in their either negative or positive statements. For a project to be successful, risks should not occur, while key assumptions need to be correct.
To identify assumptions, you have to assess the probability and significance of external conditions to be met in order to achieve your objectives and outputs. They are not addressed at the level of activities, since you are supposed to control their implementation totally under the project management.
The fourth column in the matrix is used to highlight assumptions about the external conditions that need to be fulfilled if the vertical logic of the project structure (objectives and outputs) is to hold true. This same column highlights those risks that, although they are not likely to happen, may affect either the progress or the success of the project. The relationship between risks, assumptions and levels of objectives is illustrated in the following diagram.
Diagram: Relations between risks, assumptions and levels of objectives
Only if the assumptions are met will the next level of objectives be achieved.
Types of assumptions
Implementation assumptions: These assumptions link the immediate objectives of the project to the outputs. Since the project’s management is not able to control what happens with projects outputs, there are necessarily important assumptions at this level. These assumptions are critical to the success of the project and form an important part of any evaluation.
For instance, the local government agrees to develop and implement an infrastructure development plan that will benefit the organisation.
Development assumptions: These assumptions link immediate objectives to the development goal. The question being asked is: How is the achievement of the immediate objective going to contribute to national goals, and to ILO and donor objectives? These are often stated in the form of hypotheses or theories. They are important for the appraisal and evaluation of the project, but are not usually related to implementation of activities.
For instance, stable global economic trends.
Sustainability assumptions: These assumptions relate to the sustainability of the development and immediate objectives
For instance, the government agrees to reform the organisation law.
An assessment of the importance of each assumption and the probability (risk) of its being true is required (see diagram below). The more important and more risky the assumption, the greater the need to consider:
• re-designing the project to ‘internalise’ the problem and reduce the risk of the assumption not holding true. This may involve modifying or expanding project components or activities in order to influence or even control those external factors which are critical to project success; and
• preparing contingency plans so as to be able to handle “worse case” outcomes.
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